I use AVG Internet security but you can get the free version of that, clear your temp files out, run a chkdsk /f to remove any corrupt sectors on the drive and check the system & application event logs to see if any errors are listed there to point to what the issue maybe.

1) fresh install; but it requires more efforts to bring your computer to the stage where it is currently.
2) disk defragmentation
3) uninstall unwanted applications/programs
if you are specifically getting slow response on firefox/browsing, check for add-ons and disable which are not required.
also you can reset firefox after backing up all the settings.
4) check your task manager to see what's making your PC slow, is it high memory utilization or CPU utilization or disk I/O or any other network activity, based on your analysis, consider re-configuration of the application that is using more resources.

In Firefox go to Tools > Options
Then go to Tabs and make sure that "Don't open tabs until selected" is selected.
Restart Firefox and compare it's memory usage before and after.

Install the free and really excellent addon called "Session Manager".
If you have a bunch tabs that you haven't had time to bookmark, just save the session with a memorable name and close all your tabs. You can get the closed tabs back whenever you want.

Most important of all, get rid of items that you don't want to start automatically. You should stop all toolbars and anything that wants to update (except of course your anti-virus/malware programs).
Stop Adobe, Google, Your printer etc. Nothing is permanent .... you can always go back and re-enable items.http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_win7.html

If the above don't help, and the only one I'd have a minor quibble with would be setting the swap file to be a fixed size (I don't think this helps one way or another) - then another option would be to change out your hard disk - by the size of it (297mb), it's quite old?

If you go for a SSD, and clone over your current disk, you should see some dramatic improvement in startup times - I'd suggest the Crucial MX100 - 512mb variant. if you do choose a new hard disk, you can also first try a fresh install to the new hard disk, and see how fast that is. Afterwards, you can do the cloning, and see if the performance drops compared to the fresh one, and decide which is best. Of course, with a brand new disk, you can always revert back to the old one in a few seconds.

However, this won't help with the freezing issues, but hopefully the other fixes above have resolved that...

rkorts your running out of space if you missed it refer to DanCh99 comment as he did bring it up too.http:#a40404780
Your capacity is 297 GB Hard Drive, and only about 79 GB available. Not MB !!!
That's getting low if you have system restore enabled it will be deleting old for new, windows may not run properly,
I keep mine over 100 gig for this reason
Open computer and rightclick C drive >properties Disc space used and free disc space, I have small system disc on purpose as I have 3 USB external HDD 1 terrabyte each and store all my stuff on them. And yes it is getting a little hard to to get these sized internal discs.
Consider in investing is USB drives for storage

if he has 19 GB - he nearly has 30% disk space available more than enough
if he gets near 10-15% i would say yes, that can be a cause
but it is far more probable that the disk has problems -
if so run a diagnostic to assure yourself

Your comment is completely untrue in regards to AVG being a memory hog. I have this installed on multiple client machines and also my home machines/VM's and its fine. Even looking at the Task Manager it doesn't use alot of resource.

I use AVG because not only is it a lightweight client but its also very reliable at removing infections (Sometimes even before they infect the machine)

If you want a completely lightweight client then Avast is the answer but i've heard expert opinions on machines being infected without Avast even seeing/acknowledging the machine is infected.

Personal experience: AVG may use some resource (not as much as you said) but I would rather it use it over other solutions to ensure my machines are never effected.

Lets look at your first comment>I now have to reboot about every 24 hours, If I have 15 - 20 tabs open in FireFox, it sometimes just gets stuck.
Sounds as if it is wearing out lol being on all the time,
I'd go as far as checking for dust build up on the fans inside the power supply unit that gets a lot of dust, fans on the video card. Motherboard capacitors ram sticks.
Dust builds heat.
Run the disc cleanup to delete a host of buildup with temp files/thumbnails and other things. When the temp files build up slows windows down.
Run a defrag of the drive to tighten up allocated space.
Delete history in FF as the cache can build up with so many open 24/7
Could be windows updates pending updates installed and requires a reboot.
check your taskmanager processes, go to the top VIEW add columns and add peak working memory and memory working sets waych how much cpu explorer is using and how high your cpu usage is and physical memory.

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